Microsoft announce Project Scorpio, a new Xbox out next year

"Nobody gets left behind." That’s the core message following the announcement of Project Scorpio - Microsoft’s sort-of new console, revealed today at their E3 conference. Why only sort-of? Because Scorpio feels like an upgrade, albeit a massively powerful one. 

A video featuring some key developers revealed a stack of impressive stats. Scorpio will deliver true 4K gaming, rendered at 60htz. It has 8CPU cores, and 6 teraflops of computing power - which sounds amazing, and very technical - but the short version is that it’s the most powerful console ever made (at least until the Sony conference later today).

There’s a clear intention not to alienate current Xbox One owners, too. All Xbox One games and accessories will work on Scorpio, as well as the Xbox One S. Project Scorpio is apparently also designed specifically for VR, which raises interesting questions about Microsoft’s next steps in virtual reality, and the future of Hololens - their AR headset that featured so prominently last year. 

The sting in the tail? Project Scorpio will be released in Christmas 2017.

Check out every announcement and full summary details on our Microsoft E3 press conference page.

Matt Elliott
Matt is GamesRadar's senior commissioning editor. His ideal game would be a turn-based beat 'em up set in Lordran, starring Professor Layton and Nico from Broken Sword. There would also be catapults and romance.